A class with a zero-argument constructor is subject to being instantiated in an invalid state.[1] If such a class is instantiated manually by a developer (rather than automatically by some kind of framework), the developer might not realize that the class has been improperly instantiated. The compiler cannot detect such a problem, and even if it is documented, there is no guarantee that the developer will see the documentation.

In order to function as a JavaBean class, an object class must obey certain conventions about method naming, construction, and behaviour. These conventions make it possible to have tools that can use, reuse, replace, and connect Java Beans.

The required conventions are as follows:

The class must have a public default constructor (with no arguments). This allows easy instantiation within editing and activation frameworks.

The class properties must be accessible using get, set, is (can be used for boolean properties instead of get), to and other methods (so-called accessor methods and mutator methods) according to a standard naming convention. This allows easy automated inspection and updating of bean state within frameworks, many of which include custom editors for various types of properties. Setters can have one or more than one argument.

The class should be serializable. (This allows applications and frameworks to reliably save, store, and restore the bean's state in a manner independent of the VM and of the platform.)